China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 12-19

 Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/25...........................................................................................................................12/17

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. 

As for interpreting the translation, unless you have been studying calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing (almost any "it" you will see). There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.        

                                                     Section One

                                               Solar Calendar Date

                                           (top to bottom, right to left)

十

九

日期星

Twelfth Month, Nineteenth Day

Sunday, December 19

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不合歲

將日德

Generational Exemplarity

Six Linkages

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰甲

吉中中

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

吉凶吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
行造合

喪酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

六

辛

丑

土

房

除

Sixteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinhai (38/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

掃訂祭

舍婚祀

立嫁祈

約娶福

交裁會

易衣友

納醫出

畜病行

喪三

九  小

鬼土亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Physician Treatments

Sweeping Rooms

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Livestock Payments

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void

Nine Ghost-Soils

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left）

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

廚

厠 灶

Kitchen

Toilet, Stove